Powerball

Sept. 7 (UPI) — Two lucky ticket holders in Missouri and Texas won the massive $1.8 billion Powerball jackpot after Saturday’s drawing, lottery officials announced Sunday.

The winning numbers from Saturday’s drawing were white balls 11, 23, 44, 61, 62, and red Powerball 17 with a Power Play multiplier of 2, the Multi-State Lottery Association said in a statement.

It was the second-largest prize since the game began in 1992 and will be split by the two ticket holders. The largest U.S. lottery jackpot ever was the world-record $2.04 billion Powerball jackpot won in California on Nov. 7, 2022.

“Congratulations to our newest Powerball jackpot winners and the Missouri Lottery and Texas Lottery for selling the winning tickets,” said Matt Strawn, Powerball Product Group Chair and chief executive of the Iowa Lottery.

Nearly 10 million other players won smaller prizes after Saturday’s drawing, including 18 winners of the $1 million prize for matching all five white balls with two of those increasing their winnings to $2 million by selecting the Power Play add-on.

The Saturday Powerball pull was the 42nd drawing since the most recent jackpot was won in California in May, ending the longest run in the game’s history without a jackpot winner. Now, the Powerball jackpot resets down to a $20 million prize.

The overall odds of winning a prize remain 1 in 24.9. The odds of winning the jackpot remain 1 in 292.2 million.

Funds raised from lotteries like Powerball often go toward state education departments for funding programs like the arts or to vocational programs and responsible gambling initiatives.

But Powerball is not without its critics who have raised concerns about gambling addiction or criticized lotteries, including Powerball, for disproportionately burden lower-income and minority communities while essentially functioning as a regressive form of taxation.

Sept. 4 (UPI) — The Powerball jackpot has risen to $1.7 billion after no one matched all five numbers and the red ball on Wednesday.

Saturday’s Powerball is the third-largest jackpot in U.S. lottery history, falling behind the Nov. 7, 2022, jackpot of $2.04 billion and $1.765 billion on Oct. 11, 2023.

The winner will receive the option of a lump sum payment estimated at $770.3 million or 29 payments that increase by 5% each year.

Wednesday winning numbers were white balls 3, 16, 29, 61, 69 and a red Powerball 22 with a Power Play multiplier of 2.

Although there were no jackpot winners, eleven tickets matched the $1 million prize and were sold in California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Minnesota, Ohio and Pennsylvania. Four tickets won the $2 million prize in Michigan, Oregon. Texas, and Wyoming.

Also, 117 tickets won $50,000 prizes and 36 won $100,000 prizes. In total, more than 6.3 million tickets won crash prizes in Wednesday night’s drawing.

Saturday’s drawing will be the 42nd since the last jackpot was won on May 31,2025.

The odds of winning the jackpot are 1 in 292.2 million.

Aug. 26 (UPI) — Wednesday night’s Powerball jackpot has climbed to an estimated $815 million, the lotto said Tuesday, making it the seventh-largest pot in the game’s history.

The prize has an estimated cash value of nearly $368 million, Powerball said in a statement.

The jackpot soared after no one won Monday’s draw for the pot that then sat at $750 million.

Though there was no grand winner Monday night, two tickets sold in Georgia and Texas were worth $1 million each as they both matched all five white balls, while 26 tickets won $50,000 prizes.

According to the lotto, Wednesday’s drawing will by the 38th since a ticket in California won the grand prize on May 31.

Wednesday’s Powerball Jackpot is only surpassed in worth by six others, five of which were in the billion-dollar range. The most valuable was the Nov. 7, 2022, draw for $2.04 billion.

The lottery can be played in 45 states, as well as the District of Columbia and Virgin Islands. A ticket for the game cost $1 when it debuted in 2002, with the cost doubling to $2 in 2017.

The drawing still will include five white balls selected from 70, but the number of gold ball will drop from 25 to 24.

Lottery official said that the higher ticket price will result in larger starting jackpots and faster-growing prizes. The average jackpot by picking all six numbers will be more than $800 million, much higher than the current $450 million average.

“While some customers may initially be surprised, we believe they’ll come to recognize the added benefits that this price increase enables,” Akshay Khanna, CEO of Jackpot.com, which sells Mega Millions tickets in seven states, told CNN.

“This vastly differs from something like a subway fare hike where you’re paying more for the same ride. With this Mega Millions price increase, players are receiving improved odds alongside larger and faster-growing jackpots,” she said.

The overall odds of winning the entire Mega Millions jackpot will rise from 1 in 302.6 million to 1 in 290.5 million. In addition, there no longer will be a Megaplier, which for $1 increases non-jackpot payouts and is only available in some states.

Just the Jackpot, a $3 ticket that gives a player two plays to win the overall jackpot, but not the lower-payout prizes, has also been eliminated, as have “breakeven prizes,” which means every prize will be more than $5.

The winner can choose to receive the prize in payments over 29 years or to take a lump-sum payment. Taxes also are taken out.

Mega Millions’ roots started on Aug. 31, 1993, as the Big Game with six states participating — Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan and Virginia — until May 1999, when New Jersey joined.

The Mega Millions game debuted in 2002, and New York and Ohio joined the game. The first Mega Millions drawing on May 17 had a $28 million prize, and the largest prize that year was $93 million.

Other states then joined, including California in June 2005. In January 2010, Mega Millions expanded throughout the nation with 23 more states.

Since the game began, there have been 220 jackpots won by 247 individual tickets with 22 shared by two or more winning tickets. The largest Mega Millions jackpot won on a single ticket had a $1.602 billion prize to a limited liability company in Florida on Oct. 23, 2018.

The rival game Powerball‘s ticket price remains at $2, which is played in 45 states plus the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands. The game takes place three times a week — Monday, Wednesday and Saturday from Tallahassee, Fla. Powerball’s price went from $1 to $2 in January 2012.

The sole $2 ticket Friday was sold at a Circle K store in the Shasta County city of Cottonwood in Northern California, California Lottery announced. That retailer will receive a $1 million bonus.

The numbers drawn Friday were 3, 7, 37, 49, 55 and a yellow Mega Ball of 6.

The last Mega Million top prize winner was $810 million in Texas on Sept. 10.

The pot has hit $1 billion seven times.

The lump sum payout for the $1.22 billion drawing is an estimated $549.7 million. Or the winner can also choose to receive the $1.22 billion annuity paid out over 30 years.

Also federal taxes of 25% and states taxes are taken. Eight states don’t have a state income tax, so they don’t receive money like in California.

“What an amazing present this holiday season! At an incredibly special time of year, this is both an incredibly special moment for our winner, and for all the great organizations and causes that benefit from lottery ticket sales around the country,” said Joshua Johnston, lead director for the Mega Millions Consortium, told CBS Sacramento.

The chances of winning are incredibly slim — less than the likelihood of being struck by lightning. Players have a 1 in 302,575,350 chance of winning.

Mega Millions said there were more than 5.6 million winners across all prize tiers during Friday’s drawing. Five tickets matched five numbers: one each in California, Missouri, Texas and two in California. They are worth $787,543. The lowest payout is $2 for the Mega Ball.

In this game there are 70 white balls and 25 Mega gold balls. Drawings are on Tuesday and Friday at 11 p.m.

The other nationwide lottery is Powerball is $2.04 billion won by a man in California.

Since Oct. 7, 2015, the game has used 69 white balls 26 Powerballs.

Drawings are on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday. Tickets are sold in 45 states, plus in Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

States without lotteries are Alabama, Alaska, Hawaii, Nevada and Utah. Also they can be bought in the District of Columbia and U.S. Virgin Islands and in Puerto Rico only for Powerball.